“We Would Not Have to Ask for Anything Had the Armenian Police Done Its Job”: Discussion on Gyumri Murder Case

On April 2, a public discussion organized by “Media Center” was to take place at the Journalists' Club “Asparez” in Gyumri, with the participation of the representatives of the victim's successor in the Avetisyan family murder case, human rights defenders, representatives of the public sector, as well as authorized persons from the RA General Prosecutor's office. However, minutes before the session the Prosecutor's office informed that they could not send a representative. 

During the discussion, the representative of the victim's legal successor, Lusine Sahakyan said that the results of forensic examinations obtained to date indicate Russian soldier Valery Permyakov's guilt, but the main issue is – what was the motive behind this brutal murder?

Human rights defender Artur Sakunts, another representative of the victim's legal successor, said that the existing factual circumstances were not enough to answer that question. According to Sakunts, it is also unclear as to how it was possible that nobody nearby had heard those many shots fired, not even the witness who was 5 meters from the scene of the crime. 

In turn, lawyer Yervand Varosyan stated that their side is unaware of the kind of correspondence between the Armenian and Russian prosecutors' offices, so they could not make any comments. 

According to Lusine Sahakyan, it is humiliating for Armenia when Russian officials are the ones declaring when the Armenian side should complete the preliminary investigation. 

“The reason we are gathered here today, discussing things, while some Lebedevs come and give out orders is due to the fact that Permyakov was not captured by our police. We would not have to ask or demand anything from anyone, had the Armenian Police done its job,” Yervand Varosyan said.

Permyakov's testimonies given both to the Armenian and Russian investigators should be compared to the scene investigation protocol, he added. It would show whether he was at the scene that day, or is giving testimonies based on someone else's words.

Six members of the Avetisyan family were murdered on January 12 in their Gyumri home. The family’s seventh member, 6-month-old Seryozha Avetisyan, who had serious injuries, was transferred to the hospital and died 7 days later. Russian soldier Valery Permyakov is the central murder suspect of the case and was arrested on January 13th near the Armenian-Turkish border and was handed over to the Russian military base by Russian border guards. The latter stimulated a protest of thousands of people in Gyumri demanding his transfer to Armenian law enforcement.